Re: CHAT: ...y'know

On Sun, 27 Jun 1999, Barry Garcia wrote:

> Nothing really, more like a space filler as someone else said. Americans
> dont like silent gaps in conversation. I think it also reinforces in the
> speakers mind that maybe the listener is understanding what the speaker is
> saying =). Unlike Mr. Brown, it doesnt annoy me =).  But its funny to see
> how many times someone will say it. The worst offenders of this are the
> American Rappers. Mostly from NYC. They often end EVERY sentence with a
> "Know what i'm sayin'?" . When watching them on T.V., i am always
> compelled to asnwer "no, i dont!".
I think Raymond was a bit harsh on people who insert these fillers in their
sentences. They're just another part of language usage. Saying that they
reflect disorganized thought is about as correct as saying that Spanish
speakers are illogical because they use double negatives.

That said, though, I do find it a bit annoying, and in the case of "know what
I'm sayin'," more than a bit. I'm not sure why it annoys me so much; possibly
because "know what I'm sayin'" is such a long phrase for such an insignificant
interjection, and it takes up so much of the conversation that I keep wanting
people to get to the point! :)


--
Eric Christopherson
raccoon@elknet.net      rakkoon78@hotmail.com